


maybe.

by AnxiousCupcake



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And this fic will never end as I try to give her a happy ending too, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Can't Believe I'm saying this but, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Hurt/Comfort, Marichat, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Not fleshing her out as a character too much cuz then I'll get attached, The female OC is only here as a plot device so she'll be offscreen mostly, never thought i'd write fics with those tags but here we are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29981487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousCupcake/pseuds/AnxiousCupcake
Summary: Marinette confesses to Adrien before summer and he says 'maybe after I return'. She waits for him, hopeful, and a little heartbroken anyway at breaking Luka's heart, but she waits. But when he comes back with a girlfriend on his arm, she's devastated and Adrien wants to know what's wrong.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 18
Kudos: 79





	maybe.

**Author's Note:**

> idk what this is. sorry. i have 0 explanation except for how i get carried away in the angst of it all some times.

She felt so stupid. So, _so_ stupid, for not believing the tabloids. For being naive enough to believe that he would _actually_ wait three whole months. He was _Adrien Agreste_ , after all. Why the hell would he ever wait for _her_? 

She didn’t think Adrien even realised anything was even wrong, and somehow that just made it worse. It made the words he had said to her before leaving even _more_ empty.

_“You’re amazing, Mari. But I’ll be away for three months, and maybe once I come back…??”_

He had trailed off with a nervous chuckle, and she’d thought back then that her heart would explode with all the warmth she had been feeling.

Maybe she had imagined the blush on his cheeks, and the nervousness in his voice was not nerves over _them_ but rather nerves over whether or not she’d buy his excuse. Maybe he was trying to save her from heartbreak instead of just a straight out rejection. Maybe he didn’t mean it. Maybe he did _then_ but he changed his mind. Maybe _he_ didn’t understand her correctly. Maybe _she_ had misunderstood.

 _Maybe_ she should’ve latched onto the _‘maybe_ ’ he had said instead of the _‘once I come back.’_

Maybe she should have given Luka a chance.

Maybe, maybe, _maybe_. 

She hated that word.

She knew Adrien would never purposely hurt her, and despite it all it was a little hard to hate him. Well, that was a lie, maybe she did hate him just a _little_ bit. It wasn’t fair of her she supposed, not really. Irrational even, but there was so much she was feeling.

Stupid, for waiting.

Heartbroken, for breaking Luka’s heart and her own in the process, because all said and done, she had been a little in love with Luka as well; she had just been a little bit more in love with Adrien. 

Bitter, for letting Luka go, and now wondering _what could have been_ if she hadn’t been such a hopeless romantic with whimsical ideas of a fantastical love. 

Angry, for being naive. At herself. At Adrien. 

Guilty, for being angry in the first place, because this was _not_ Adrien’s fault. 

Indignant, because _yes_ this was Adrien’s fault. 

And then, guilty again.

Confused, because she didn’t know how to be around him anymore, if only because she did not know how to handle all these _feelings_ coursing through; feelings that had nowhere to go. 

All these feelings, and something had to give.

Adrien cornered her in the library one day, in her favourite corner by the window near the shelves dedicated to books on Art and Design.

“You’re avoiding me.”

It wasn’t a question. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

That was a lie.

“You don’t hang out with me anymore.”

“False,” she countered, trying to keep her voice steady. “We went to the movies yesterday.”

He pursed his lips, staring at her obstinately before sighing in resignation. “Did I do something?”

Marinette’s breath caught in her throat, as she struggled to form words, eyes widening as she stared at him with panic. She was not ready for this! And what could she even say? 

_You said “maybe”?_

How she hated that word. 

So she drew a steadying breath and looked up at him. “No.”

He hesitated. “You’d tell me if I did something to upset you, right?”

Her expression fractured the tiniest fraction. Swallowing thickly, she clutched her books tighter to her chest. “If it’s something that _really_ matters, yes.”

He frowned at her choice of wording but before he could say anything, Alya appeared out of nowhere behind Adrien. 

“M!” she exclaimed, eyes darting quickly to Adrien before scanning Marinette’s face for any signs of distress. Marinette’s heart warmed. “I was just looking for you,” she said slowly. “To tell you that _Adrien_ was looking for you.”

Oh. 

“Well, he found me,” said Marinette wryly.

Alya walked past Adrien and started to put Marinette’s books in her bag. “Your Mom called for you, M. Needs your help at the bakery. Your shift and all,” she said, looking at Marinette pointedly.

“Right,” said Marinette gratefully, looking at Adrien apologetically, but not really feeling apologetic, because Alya had saved her from opening a can of worms she wanted to pretend wasn’t rotting in the far corner of the metaphorical pantry.

“I thought your shifts were on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” said Adrien slowly. 

“Change of plans over the summer,” said Alya quickly. “Now it's _Mondays_ , Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“Right.”

“Sorry, Sunshine,” said Alya, genuinely apologetic as she looked at Adrien with a sheepish smile. 

“No, it’s fine,” said Adrien, not sounding like it was fine at all. “We’ll, um, talk later, yeah?”

Marinette blinked in surprise, before clearing her throat. “Um, yes. Sure!”

She stopped staying after school hours in the library, and found herself a corner in the art room instead. 

Things came to a head when though Marinette tried, she was subtle as a brick when she turned on her heel and speedwalked in the opposite direction when she saw Adrien and the girl he was dating walking out of the cafe she frequented. 

She knew he had seen her, and prayed to all the good luck she could that nothing came of it. But she should’ve known better by now that the good luck she wielded as Ladybug left her the moment she took the spots off.

When Adrien found her in the art room after school, she was off her game. Tired from the late night akuma fight, she was probably not as attuned to her surroundings as she usually was. Her and Chat had even had an explosive argument because neither of them had had their heads in the fight, and something told her that it had boiled down to a _lot_ more than that, both for her and for him. It took them _much_ longer than it should have to defeat the akuma. But she didn’t have the emotional room to have a breakdown over _that_ yet. 

She hadn’t even noticed Adrien sidle into the seat next to her, unintentionally blocking her exit. It was when a frustrated stroke of pencil ended with the pencil dropping to the floor next to his orange sneakers, that she noticed him. 

“Hi,” he said quietly. 

“Adrien?” she asked, startled.

“I know I did something,” he said quietly, without missing a beat, a little heartbreakingly tired. 

“Adrien-”

“ _Marinette, please_ ,” he sighed. “It’s _killing_ me.”

“I promise it has nothing to do with you-”

“If you’re trying to protect my feelings, you’re _not_ ,” he interrupted with uncharacteristic harshness, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “It’s been eating me _alive_ , I’m not _dumb_. I’ve seen the way Alya hovers around you, and the frantic glances Rose and Mylene exchange before whisking you away-”

“Adrien, stop.”

“-And how _awkward_ Nino gets when I ask him what’s going on with you,” he continued relentlessly. “Ever since the other day, you stopped sitting in your little nook at the library, and two days ago I _saw_ you that evening when-”

“ _Adrien,_ ” said Marinette more urgently throught gritted teeth, trying to keep the heels of her palms from pressing into her eyes to block the tears. 

“-We were at the cafe, and I _know_ that’s your favourite one and you just took one look and _left_ . I _know_ something’s going on!”

He heaved a deep breath before looking at her dolefully, his voice so low and desolate that she felt her chest tighten. “And now you’re sad.”

She sniffled, deflating in her seat to put her forehead against the table; he inched a little closer. “Mari?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, turning her head just a little so her cheek was squished against the table and she was looking up at him.

“There _is_ an “it”, then?” he asked slowly.

She sighed. “It’s nothing, Adrien. I know you would never hurt me on purpose. Can we just leave it at that?”

“So I _did_ hurt you.”

She didn’t say anything. She tried inhaling deeply, but now, exhausted from the fights and lack of sleep, worrying over Chat Noir, and Adrien looking like _she_ had broken _his_ heart, she found it too much of an effort to keep up with any resistance. 

“You’re going to hate me.” 

“I could never hate you.”

She snorted. “ _I_ hate me. My best friend hates me-”

“What?” he asked, startled. “Alya? I thought-”

“No, no, not Alya,” she groaned. “I don’t want to talk-”

“You don’t want to talk about _that_ either? Why am I not surprised?” he grumbled.

Marinette sat up to look at him with narrowed eyes. “Excuse me?”

He looked startled, clearly not having expected her to have heard him. He floundered for a moment before straightening and looking straight at her. “You heard me. You keep saying that, but avoid me like the plague. Nino keeps telling me to leave it alone, and Alya looks like she’s on the edge of her seat when I walk into the room. You don’t even look at me when you’re talking to me anymore, just back like when we first met. You say I’ve done nothing, but treat me like I broke your heart or something-”

“Because _you did_ !” she burst out at last, feeling a weight lift off her chest as the pressure that had begun to build in her gut with each word that left his mouth came to a head. She decidedly ignored his shocked expression. “You _did_ break my heart, and I’m _trying_ to cope without hurting you _back_ but you won’t _let_ me!” she cried.

“What? I don’t…” 

The lost look on his face was too much; all innocent and concerned, _trying_ to understand. 

“You don’t even _remember_ ,” she said, almost hysterical as the tears finally broke free. “I’m _such an idiot_.”

Adrien winced in shock at something, as his hand shot up to pat at his pocket for some reason as if trying to calm something down. He looked around nervously before looking at her, and she wondered if she saw a semblance of understanding amidst all the unsurety, or if she was projecting again. 

“Before summer. Before you left. I...,” she said, voice breaking as she desperately tried to wipe her tears with the back of her hand. “You said… God, I was so in love with you. When you said maybe once you came back… I _waited_ . But you said _maybe_ and _I_ waited anyway. Like an _idiot_.”

He seemed frozen in shock, his own eyes glistening with tears. “I didn’t… I didn’t think you-”

“I don’t really blame you for all this,” she said, bitterly, chest shuddering as she heaved a sob. “I’m the _only_ idiot here, and I’m sorry I’m being selfish. I _know_ that, and I'm sorry I'm hurting you but... I... I just need time. I don’t _know how_ to be around you, because I know that in theory it's not your fault at all but I see you, and I remember crying myself to sleep over Luka’s face when I turned him down, and how I told myself it would be worth it because _you_ said ‘once you came back’ _but_ you _also_ said ‘ _maybe_ ’ and I keep thinking if I’d _maybe_ believed the tabloids and _maybe_ said ‘yes’ to Luka and-”

She didn’t realise her hands had gone into her hair in her agitation, tugging almost painfully, till she felt Adrien wrap his fingers around her wrist quietly to pull her hands away from her head. 

“Wha-”

And he pulled her into a hug, clutching her tight to him. She froze for a moment before she started struggling against him. 

“What’re you doing!” she hissed against his shoulder, but he held on tighter.

“I’m _so, so_ sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“Adrien, I know you didn’t mean to,” she said exasperatedly, desperately trying to put some distance between them. “ _Please_ let go,” she said in a hushed whisper after a tense pause. 

“I will,” he promised shakily, like he didn’t quite mean it; she didn’t know what to make of that. “I just… I wanted to explain-”

At that, she finally wrenched herself free from him and glared at him. “There’s nothing to explain! You’re dating someone else, and that’s _fine_. Give me a while, and I-I’ll get over it.”

“Marinette…” he said, warily, eyes flickering over to something over her shoulder. 

“The _last_ thing I want is for you to beat yourself up about this and pity from you! Just. Don’t bother yourself about this, Adrien. Yes, I’m hurt and _mad_ and I _wish_ I didn’t feel that way but I promise I’ll work on it and-”

He reached over as she was talking and pulled her into a hug again, ducking under the table along with her. Before she could scream her outrage, he whispered in her ear, “Akuma. Please. Marinette, calm down,” he pleaded, hand over her mouth. “I- I can’t… I don’t want to see you akumatized.”

She took deep breaths before finding her voice and talking against his palm. “I need you to get out.”

“What? No way, I can’t-”

Without saying much, she gripped both his hands firmly, prying them off her face and waist, before ducking out from under the bench with surprising strength. He looked startled, but only for a moment before he started to protest in earnest. “What’re you doing!”

“There’s an _akuma_! My stupid little schoolgirl drama can wait,” she spat, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

“It’s not-” he started, but shook off the words before glaring at her. “I’m _not_ leaving you alone! The akuma’s here for _you_ , because you’re feeling hurt-”

She let out a hollow snort of laughter. “Feelings _you_ hurt, so I’ll calm down once you leave!” she snapped, pulling him in the direction of the door of the art room.

He looked stricken as he stopped resisting, eyes crinkling with sadness. Or maybe it was pity. She hated it. So she looked away, inhaling deeply. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” she sighed, finally loosening her grip on him as she pushed him through the doorway. 

“Find Chat Noir, Adrien,” she said tiredly, shutting the door in his face, leaving him to stare at the blue grains of the wooden door.

She sighed deeply and sank to the floor against the door, as Tikki flew out of her bag to fret worriedly over her. She felt the emotions and the fight drain out of her as Tikki hugged Marinette’s nose. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the akuma, which had been making its way steadily towards her, hover indecisively. 

“Need to purify that before it finds someone.”

When Chat Noir barged into the room, eyes wide and form tense as if bracing himself for the worst, Marinette had only _just_ dropped her transformation to sink onto the floor once again. His eyes tracked the purified, white akuma fluttering out of the window. 

“Hey, Chat.”

“Princess!” 

“You just missed Ladybug,” she chuckled, resting her head against the wall to stare at the ceiling.

“Were you…. Were you akumatized?” he asked, swallowing thickly.

“Only barely. Ladybug has incredible timing. Said she was close by and _saw_ the butterfly make its way here. Lucky, no?”

“Yes," he swallowed. "Lucky.”

He walked over to sit next to her, and hesitantly threw an arm around her shoulder to pull her into his side. “How are you feeling, Princess?”

“Like _shit_ ,” she admitted with a snort.

If she noticed his nervous demeanour, she didn’t say anything. “Adrien was very worried about you,” he said slowly, almost testily.

“Of course, he was,” she said, voice neutral. “I might have gone after his girlfriend if I’d been akumatized and that’s the last thing I want.”

She didn’t quite understand why Chat would look so hurt on Adrien’s behalf, but she sighed deeply and apologized anyway. “I’m sorry, that was rude. I know he cares about me. I just…”

Trailing away, she sighed and dropped her head on Chat’s shoulder. “Take me home, Chat. I’m so, so tired.”

Starting tomorrow, she had some moving on to do; she’d broken enough hearts for this sweetheart of a boy, including her own.

**Author's Note:**

> did i overdo this? yes. do i have any regrets?? nope. [[ at least not till i wake up tomorrow morning :) ]]
> 
> send asks or questions about this fic, or anything mlb and i'll be happy to discuss! :D - [activechataclysme.](https://activechataclysme.tumblr.com/)


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